


The Space Around Us

by Ljparis



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Gen, Millennium Falcon - Freeform, Missing Scene, Movie: Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Trip to Bespin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2020-01-31 05:35:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18584821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ljparis/pseuds/Ljparis
Summary: On the long trip to Bespin, Han gives Leia her space.





	The Space Around Us

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lajulie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lajulie/gifts).



> I hope you enjoy this short, missing scene from Han and Leia's trip to Bespin.

Leia was trying very, very hard not to say anything - again - about how irresponsible it was that Han captained this heap of garbage with a broken hyperspace drive, forcing them to crawl through space as though they were on a kriffing holiday trip. 

Which they were not. 

They were, in fact, in the middle of a war, something that he didn't seem to care about. 

In fact, Leia was pretty sure Han Solo didn't now and never had cared about a single thing in his entire life.

He certainly didn't care about _her_ , considering she hadn't seen him in … at least thirty-six hours. A feat, really, on a ship this size. Of course, she wasn't exactly making an effort to see him either, but that was neither here nor there.

She and Han took opposite shifts in the cockpit, and it had been either Threepio or Chewbacca who searched her out to make the switch or tell her to go get some sleep. In Han's cabin, where the bed was more comfortable, even though she'd argued about that. 

Han had been surprisingly absent. 

Leia was used to spending long periods of time on her own, though it wasn't her preference. 

She grew up in a palace, with only her parents and the staff as her closest companions. Often, Leia spent hours in the library or out in the gardens after her tutors left for the day, reading, studying, being on her own. She liked it better than the crushed royal events she sometimes was dragged to, more often as she got older. 

Later, at school and on Coruscant, she found a group of friends who accepted her despite her role as a princess, but most still kept her somewhat at arm's length. She was grateful for the exceptions.

Even recently - especially recently - she could really only count on Han and Luke to not treat her delicately, like royalty. The rest of the Alliance wasn't willing to let her be a real part of the fight, not in the ways that she wanted to.

She appreciated that Han didn't treat her differently. Until now, it seemed.

There weren't very many places to hide on this ship and, after a short search, Leia found Han in one of the gun turrets. She leaned in and said his name.

His back straightened, and he turned, not around, but just enough to acknowledge that he heard her.

There were many things she could say, and she settled on this: "If you don't want company, I can go."

It was a moment before he answered. "No, it's fine." Han shifted and made just enough room for Leia to squeeze in with him. They weren't quite in each other's space yet, but they were close. "What's wrong?" he asked her.

Her elbow brushed his arm. She ignored the tremor it caused. "I was going to ask you the same thing."

He fiddled with some kind of device in his lap - a part of the ship, maybe, she hoped it wasn't important - and stopped to look up at her. "Nothing's wrong," he said gruffly. She crossed her arms and leveled a gaze at him. It didn't have the effect she wanted, not this close to him, but she didn't back down. "Was just trying to give you some space," Han grumbled.

Leia opened her mouth to argue with him, such a default setting lately that it took a moment for her to think that maybe he had a point. She had started out by avoiding him, after he kissed her. (He _kissed_ her!) After she realized she wanted him to do it again. Her cheeks flushed. "Oh," she said, lips pressed together. "Thank you."

Han's smile was more like a smirk, and Leia hated it. "You're welcome, princess."

"You don't have to," she said, averting her gaze from him, looking at a control panel, out the window, somewhere else.

"Don't have to what?" Han asked, because of course he did.

She tried not to growl in frustration because she knew it would only fuel his teasing. "Give me space," she said, jaw only slightly clenched.

To no one's surprise, especially not Leia's, Han took her literally, standing up and leaning in toward her, an arm stretched above her head. He crowded into her space, made her heart pound, the blood rush to her head, to - elsewhere. "All right, Leia," he said, his voice low, the words washing over her. Suddenly, she was too hot. 

She rolled her eyes because anything else seemed like a bad idea. "I'll let you get back to whatever it is you're working on." And before he could say anything or, worse, touch her to tempt her not to go yet, Leia shimmied past and away from him.

 

 

Leia looked up when Chewbacca lumbered into the cockpit, Threepio at his heels. She was still working on her Shyriiwook comprehension, and she looked to the droid for help when Chewie said more than she could grasp.

"Captain Solo has asked you to join him for dinner," Threepio said.

Leia looked at Chewie, who held open his arms and said something else.

"He says it wasn't his idea so do not blame him for it."

Leia couldn't help but smile a little at that.

Chewie said something else that she interpreted as 'have fun' as she moved past him and out of the cockpit. She found Han waiting for her in the galley, which had been cleaned. Instead of the table piled with various pieces of the ship or datapads or whatnot, instead it was done up with plates and glasses and a bottle of something - "Is that Toniray?" she asked.

Han rubbed the back of his neck. "I found a bottle when I was cleaning out the hold. It wasn't stored right so it's probably gone bad -"

She couldn't stop staring at the teal liquid behind the glass. "What is all this?"

"Dinner," he said.

She was wary, hovering a few feet away. "I ate a few hours ago."

Han shrugged. "You eat more than once a day, don't you?" There was an unfamiliar edge to his tone that she tried not to read into.

"Aren't we rationing food?"

Han's shoulders tensed then sagged. "I'm trying to do something nice for you, princess. Are you hungry or not?"

It hit her at once, the realization that this was not just him being nice at all. He could use that as an excuse and sound testy as he said it, but he did this _for her_. She lifted her gaze to his and held it for a moment. "Is there dessert?" she asked lightly.

A look of relief passed across Han's face, gone a moment later. "Sure," he said, "we can dump honey onto those rice cakes if they haven't grown mold yet." He flashed a grin at her and gestured for Leia to sit.

She did, watching him expectantly as he poured her a glass of the Toniray and handed it to her. He settled down with his own and went to sip it, but Leia reached out, her fingers encircling his wrist. "Wait," she said. "We should toast."

Han's eyebrows lifted, and he sat back more comfortably, nodding. "Sure, princess, what would you like to toast to?" How he could go from visibly tense to nonchalant in the blink of an eye got under Leia's skin, but she tried to ignore it.

She lifted her glass, pulling her lower lip between her teeth as she considered it. "To -" _Us_. The possibility of us. A future. Anything. "To the rebellion," she said finally.

Han clinked his glass to hers, the corner of his mouth twitching. "To the rebellion," he echoed, but they both knew what they were really toasting.


End file.
